Newbie Cider Mistake

I put up a one gallon jug three days ago. Today I realized I forgot the yeast nutrient so I added it a few minutes ago. Freakin' geyser - cider everywhere - sticky kitchen blues. I'm not a stupid man - why do I do things like this? I should have known after the 2 week old jug went nuts when I added the cranberries. Why does cider keep so much dissolved CO2 where beer does not?

StuporMan said:

Freakin' geyser - cider everywhere - sticky kitchen blues.

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sorry to hear if it makes you feel better I bought one of the self priming siphons this weekend. in my mixing bucket I made a 5 gal batch of kiwi raspberry with an added 5lbs of sugar
with my bucket on the stove top and carboy on the floor, I put the hose in the carboy and the pump/cane in the bucket I raised the cane up in the housing and pumped id down.
one shot primed and siphoning away what I missed was when I raised the cane it lifted the hose out of the carboy
of course when I pumped it down the hose reached the floor and the hose likes to curl and the hose end slid under the stove
after watching my new siphon suck out about a gallon my socks started getting wet and I yelled sh*t
then instantly it was funny as hell
and in the next instance the wife walked in the kitchen to see red juice all over her (just washed the day before) floor and it was no longer funny
I feel your pain but just remember it can always be worse

I've heard other people add dry energizer a few days later and get gushers. I think the wise ones said it should have been hydrated first, and then there wouldn't be a problem. I can't tell you why.

CandleWineProject said:

I've heard other people add dry energizer a few days later and get gushers. I think the wise ones said it should have been hydrated first, and then there wouldn't be a problem. I can't tell you why.

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The pourous structure of the nutrient creates millions of points for the formation of bubbles (much like activated charcoal).
Same thing will happen with sorbate or really any dry addition.
By hydrating or disolving in any fashion that would remove the possibility.

Sounds like the same sort of reaction that you get when you put Mentos in Diet Coke. The dry nutrient gives a wealth of nucleation sites, so all of the CO2 tries to come out of solution all at once. Science aside, it does make for some unhappy mop-time...